WARWICKSHIRE failed to take victory but took much heart from their drawn championship match against Middlesex.

Even without three bowling options due to injury, the Bears worked themselves into a winning position on the final day.

They shrugged off the loss of Ian Salsibury, Darren Maddy and Monde Zondeki to have Middlesex wobbling at 218 for seven, just 77 in front, in mid-afternoon.

The four bowlers left - Jimmy Anyon, Naqaash Tahir, Jon Trott and Ant Botha - all performed well with varying degrees of luck.

But in the end they tired and the absence of Salisbury, in particular, was felt as the visitors' eighth-wicket pair Eoin Morgan and Shaun Udal steered them to safety.

It was, though, much the most encouraging championship display by Warwickshire this season.

At Northampton, they won due to a sensational final day's batting. Here their cricket was more consistent with their middle-order providing a strong first-innings total of 438.

Victory, in the circumstances, would have been an eye-catching start to Ian Westwood's stint as skipper. He took over in charge from Maddy and, with advice from senior players, wielded his limited bowling options shrewdly.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Monde Zondeki has paid farewell to the Bears.

The paceman, who has a torn groin muscle, returned home to South Africa last night to try to regain fitness in time to return to England with his country later this summer. Chris Martin, currently playing for New Zealand against England in the Test match at Old Trafford, is set to replace Zondeki as the Bears' overseas recruit. He is expected to confirm shortly that he will join after the Twenty20.

Australian batsman Luke Pomersbach is top of Warwickshire's list to replace Sanath Jayasuriya, who has backed out of his commitment to play in the Twenty20.

Looking further ahead, the Bears have outlined their intention to approach players out of contract at the end of this season - Middlesex batsman Ed Joyce, Alex Gidman and Steve Kirby (Gloucestershire), Graeme Onions (Durham) and David Sales (Northamptonshire).